Mark The Red
by heavyneos
Summary: Mark is banished from his home dimension by a strange man who promised to make his dream come true
1. Chapter 1

(I don't own Teen Titans DC comics and Warner Brothers do)

It had been a long and especially tiring day for Mark or more accurately a tiring week that had started with him missing the Train for the second time that week because of a blowout, then a major account holder at bank had decided he wanted to withdraw funds from his account for pocket change to go on holiday and he had to explain to the man that you cannot withdraw five hundred thousand pounds from an ATM and that even in branch that had to be signed for by his manager, that had gone over as well as the Hindenburg, the next day the branch had a complete IT systems failure so they had been doing busy work, the day after that he had to deal with the quarterly tests at the bank asking asinine questions that made you question the sanity of the author as every common sense answer was not what the company wanted, then the week had culminated in him having a blowout with a dick head on the train that had almost come to blows if not for the Transport Police officer that had been there, then finally the next day it had started raining buckets and his umbrella was apparently broken so he was soaked to the bone, but with all of that he had one ray of sunshine, one solitary light at the end of the tunnel, it was comic book night with his friends at the "Bat in the Hat" comic book shop and nothing could ruin that, It would be an evening of shooting the breeze with the lads over new and old issues, he had also heard that old Al had gotten the classic Teen Titans cartoon series and would be holding a screening in his back room that was something Mark was especially excited for.

The Bat in the Hat was a two story building attached to one of the old Castle Arcades, though the building looked narrow it made up for it with the vast depth inside, the sign for the shop like most along that row was designed like sign markers for a Pub that hanged off two hinges attached to a metal frame, the logo itself was a chibi-styled Bat-mite with the Mad Hatters Hat at a jaunty angle.

The door opened with a corresponding ring of the door bell and Mark was met by the slight aroma of incense and the jovial smiling face of the Portly old proprietor old Al, Al was an old Hippy that had been to Woodstock and never left, he was about average height with white long hair tied back with old twine and a white beard that was long and braided with flowers he wore a plain looking poncho with his signature tie-dyed tee shirt, along with his ever-present round sunglasses and as always he was full of energy.

"Mark how are you," he smiled as he stacked issues of Justice League

"I'm good," he smiled "you got my new issues in"

"Sorry dude not yet"

"Keep an eye out for me yeah"

"No worries man" he smiled "as soon as there in I'll give you a bell"

"you're a prince among men Al" the large hippy smiled

"Hey are you up for some titans"

"Yep, yep" he smiled "you're still giving me a lift home though yeah"

"Don't worry man I said I would" Mark smiled at his response before heading to the back room where only the VIP customers were allowed.

"No way Superman would total Batman in a second flat" cried a very familiar voice

"He would not Batman has taken Superman to task so many times it's not even funny" another voice responded just as forcefully

Mark rolled his eyes this was the perpetual argument that his friends Dan and Jessica would have every time there were in store it was hard to believe that they were in a relationship together at times, the number of times that they were at each other's throats about one thing or another was ridiculous it was like they were the bitterest of enemies instead of boyfriend girlfriend, Mark pushed his way through the beaded divider and into the room where he was met with a resounding cry of.

"MARK!" from the guys and girls there, this was 'his place where everyone knows his name', where he could relax and be himself not what the company wanted.

"guys" he acknowledged the group of thirteen patrons in the room, the majority he recognised but one he did not,he was a tall thin looking man with blond hair and green eyes and had a regal looking sharp face, but something was telling him to ignore this man as it wasn't his problem that he was in the back room with them, no matter how wrong he thought that was, he shook his head slightly pinching the bridge of his nose believing that he may be more tired than he had thought before he rounded on his friends "are you guys still going on with this Odin's beard, let it go"

"not until he/she admits he/she is wrong," they said togeather with as much conviction as they could muster.

"fine," he said putting his hands up in mock surrender before he grabbed a seat on one of the five three seater sofas at the back as the beanbag's had all been taken, he sank slightly in the comfort of the chair "so what's the what guys"

They spent the next half an hour talking about how their week had gone before old Al came into the back room with a blue DVD box in his hands.

"who's ready for some Titans," he said jovially, everybody gave a cheer as he turned on the overhead projector and hooked it up to the laptop that sat on his desk, giving everyone an opportunity to get settled and comfortable then it began.

"when there's trouble you know who to call"

"Teen Titans!" they all shouted as the theme tune began to blast through the speakers

"From their tower, they can see it all"

"Teen Titans!" they shouted again bopping along to the theme, they watched the first four episodes of season one before they called time for those who needed to catch trains and buses home but the rest around seven people stayed, Mark had bid farewell to his friends by the door before he went back into the back room.

"Hey Al," said Mark "if you could" and before he could finish

"Superman"

"oh come on man you didn't even let me finish"

"ok then ask away"

"if you could have any hero or villains powers who are not and have not ever been Avengers or Justice league Team members or opponents who're would you have?"

"that is a better question" the jovial man smiled "give me some time to think and I'll get back to you".

They watched two more episodes and the question had left Marks mind as he started to enjoy the show for another two episodes that when the credits rolled and the last of the guys there had left he helped Al clean up and close up shop, the two between them cleaned up the back room and made their way to the front of the shop, where they turned off all the lights and Al locked the door.

It was cold outside in the night air with a few scantily clad women in ridiculously tall heels and men too drunk to know where they were but that was just another day on Friday night in Cardiff, the two walked down to the more residential area of Cardiff where Al keeps his car, the houses where all stone terraced houses and had no room for driveways as it was about a meter from the front door to the pavement, he was allowed to park there as one of his friends lived there and didn't drive so Al could use his residency pass to park there without consequences.

Al's car was an old rust bucket 1978, Ford Cortina that had mismatched door panels and wings, the drivers side door was a pea green with the main body of the car being black, the passenger side door was red and the passenger side wing was sky blue and the car also had a missing grill, the inside was much cleaner than the outside and the seats were well-maintained which was a stark contrast to the outside of it, as he turned over the engine he looked over to Mark and said

"The Black Terror," it took a second for Mark to remember the question then it clicked. "I would choose the Black Terror"

"golden age Classic man" smiled Mark "He's like Hour-man right," he said trying to remember the character but it was a bit hazy for him, he knew little about the Golden age of comics but the name was familiar.

"sort of but it's more like Hour-man is like him" Al smiled again, Mark spotted the strange man with blond hair, but this time his eyes seemed to glow, he was standing on the street corner looking at them intently

'maybe it was a trick of the light' he thought but just as quickly as he noticed him he seemed to vanish but something in the back of Marks mind told him that there was someone still there, though he didn't know who or what and that feeling only amplified as they reached the end of the street

"and what about you man," Old Al asked jarring Mark out of his contemplation, it took him a minute or two to think before he answered

"I'm torn" he replied honestly "between three different characters"

"well lay it on me, man"

"Ok" he responded with a slight sigh "it would be a tossup between Rockman from the twelve, Magnus the Red from Warhammer 40k or Kinnikuman Big Body from Kinnikuman scramble for the throne"

"who do you feel more man" again it took a while for Mark to answer as cutting his list again was not something he was counting on, they had passed the last set of road lights before hitting the M4 when he had finally given his answer.

"I probably lean towards Magnus more than anything else, besides his mighty psyker powers, he is a mystic of amazing ability and skill as well" he smiled "and well magic," he said wiggling his fingers at old Al in parody of a stage magician

Al smiled at him before a sudden bright light suddenly appeared before them then..., nothing, nothing for what felt like an eternity.

Then a sudden and powerful explosion of swirling colour and pain as Mark felt like he had been compressed down to the size of a golf ball and dragged through a garden hose by his nose, and just as quickly as the pain had started it vanished and he felt at peace and he found himself floating, he had never experienced anything like this before, it was totally different that floating in water, with water it felt like it was there, you could feel it ebbing and flowing, but this was so different, not unwelcome just different, then he felt like he was falling and suddenly found himself staring up at a one eyed red Giant, he knew who this creature was, this was Magnus the Red of Prospero, the crimson king, Mark could feel the power of the man rolling off him like a tsunami, he felt as thou he was an insignificant ant in a land of giants, Marks skin tingled and he felt an unknown pressure in his head as though his mind was in a vice, it was as though there was a powerful storm brewing and he was at the center of it, the smell of burnt ozone around him reminded him of a storm he was in as a child and the memory of it made him want to run but he could not.

The Giant sat on a throne of pure marble beautifully carved into an almost perfect representation of the Legions emblem pre-heresy, behind him was a vast golden ring that had many hieroglyphs and runes carved into the gold and inlaid it with a shimmering obsidian stone.

"Why I have you sought this audience with me, Marcus Aurelius" Mark had no Idea who Magnus was speaking to and was about to turn to look when his mouth started to move on its own

"My lord I have reviewed the Rubric as you commanded," he said bowing briefly in the presence of the Giant who seemed dismissive of his presence, Mark could feel an aura of contempt ebb from him like a dark poison.

"And your findings Marcus," he said slouching down in his throne resting his head on his hand.

"My lord," he said wearily he knew that the Crimson king had already investigated the matter and would not like any antithetical information, especially if it took him away from his contemplation of the great ocean. "I have fully reviewed the runic array used in the creation of the Rubric and have found the sequence that Ahriman"

"Do not speak the exiles name!," roared the Giant as he sprang to his feet grabbing Mark and raising him off the floor with one hand, his other hand was pulled back and crackled with purple lightning that had such power that Mark felt if he was to be hit by it then he would have simply ceased to exist, all that had happened in the time span between Marks blinking eyes opening and closing.

"apologies my lord" he gasped out, both of his hands gripped the Giants' wrist trying in vain to release some of the pressure from his neck when just as suddenly as he had moved he had returned to his throne and hadn't looked like he had moved at all, Mark fell onto his knees with a heavy thud.

"continue," he said, once again he looked disinterested in the conversation. Mark began again

"I have fully reviewed the array used in the creation of the Rubric and have found the sequence," he stopped as the Giant's single eye changed colour to a deadly purple, "I have found it to be incomplete," he said quickly the Giant raised the eyebrow from above his missing eye, "and several of the runes are also mirrored where they should not be and some are backwards," the giant sat forward in his chair his eye glowed like an emerald jewel that seemed to hold the knowledge of the universe within its timeless depths.

"indeed," he spoke with a power in his voice that seemed to cause waves of power to echo within the great ocean, "can it be undone,"

"to a point yes my lord," he responded quickly "it can be undone but it would take more power than I or any ten brothers could possess,"

"to a point,?" spoke the Giant

"It would be impossible to recreate the bodies of our fallen brothers, but after extensive investigation and testing I have found their minds and personalities still exist locked within the armour,"

Magnus rose from his throne again and appeared next to Mark leaving an after image sitting on the throne that dissolved in a motive static.

"why have none of my other sons been able to feel anything from the Rubric inflicted then"

"they don't know to look for my lord" Mark answered honestly he could see the tightrope he was walking and had no desire to fall.

"oh and what did you look for" he could tell from the tone in his voice that the Crimson King was sceptical of his claim

"I looked for emotion"

"Emotion" Magnus echoed "why was this not done sooner," he said as though he had only just perceived the gravity of a mistake

"the diagnostic spells we use overlook emotion as the majority of Sekhmet have suppressed their own for so long they can not perceive them in others,"

"do you have any theories as to how the mistake occurred,"

"the Exile always was a dutiful study and he picked up on runes quickly, I can only surmise that some unknown external factor was in play as the mistakes are in too many places and too frequent to be natural, something knew what to manipulate and how to do so with neither the Exile or any of his compatriates able to pick up on it,"

For a moment Mark could perceive the Giant coming to a realisation as if he had just discovered that he had been manipulated and now could see the strings by which he had been manipulated, and just as suddenly as he saw it the look vanished in microseconds.

"have you tested your theory"

"not yet my lord but I have finished preparations and would like your aid in powering the spell"

"you have created an array for testing?" he asked surprised

"yes my lord,"

"how long did it take you,?"

"a few days my lord because I had to check and double check the array for any mistakes," explained Mark.

The Giant smiled and seemed more energised, more alive and somehow just more him, like the true Magnus than he had in a millennium, he was practically vibrating with an excitement and curiosity that he had not seen since before the burning of Prospero.

As the two sorcerors left Mark was somehow left behind, as if whatever had brought him there to that moment had decided he had seen enough, he watched in silence as the body he was inhabiting and the Crimson king left through a pair of gigantic doors, the body was that of a Sekhmet Terminator with a staff though he didn't know the rank he knew for certain that it was a high one, but it was Magnus that struck him the most outside of the confines of the body and the preconceived understanding of the Sekhmet gave him a completely different view of the Crimson King that would stay with him for eternity like a scar on his very soul.

It was like watching the sun walking and with every step away from him Mark seemed to miss the presence of the demi-god, like he was now no longer warm as if the very essence of light had left, he was about to move to follow after them when he felt a powerful hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"that is not your path" the voice had an audible English accent with an upper-class twang about it, Mark turned but could not wrench himself free of the hand that had stopped him, he could only turn his head to see who had and was astonished to see the blond man from earlier.

"you," he said aghast at the man

"you noticed me didn't you" it was not a question "you saw me as I watched didn't you"

"what?"

"no one has seen me not for millennium's past" he forcibly turned Mark to face him with strength greater than he had ever felt before "that is why you could not stay"

"I don't understand"

"you have done something that should be impossible," he said his green eyes boring into Marks blue as if he was trying to dig out his secrets, "the site was lost long ago he above all decreed that any that possessed it was to be banished man is not yet ready," he said as he released Mark "you were too immature you did not comprehend and could not understand," Mark tried to get away from this man but his legs refused to move, the man seemed almost crazed "you had to leave before you infected others and for that I am sorry," he seemed almost sincere

"what are you talking about you header", he was trying to force his legs to move but they refused

"but I am not the kind to blink a life from existence I am not the morning star," he smiled caressing Marks face almost like a lover would "I heard your conversation with your strange friend," he smiled "I will make your dreams come true,"

Mark had a feeling of dread bubble up like bile in his gut as the blond man smiled once again, he opened an empty hand then with nothing to explain it suddenly three azure blue blazing suns ignited in his palm, then with his other hand he clasped Mark's shoulder and pulled him closer and pushed the suns into his chest.

Mark felt warm unnaturally warm like he was standing in the desert naked, then a burning pain began to boil in his chest, and it began to spread out from his chest until jagged white hot pain exploded into his mind, he was burning and could not move to put it out, all he could focus on was this smiling monster and the pain that seemed to go on for an eternity, his body could not even pass out from the strain it was like this demon was keeping him from even that small mercy.

Then suddenly his body was free and he collapsed and was greeted by darkness and the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

Mark awoke confused and with his eyes unable to focus on anything, his eyes adjusted slowly until he could see pure white stone, he ran a hand over the material

"this is marble" he mumbled

"beautiful isn't it" it was him Mark was sure "it was such a shame that the wolves had to destroy it", Mark looked around but could not see the demon, he rose to his feet his legs protesting shakily as he did so, everything seemed too familiar he knew where he was but at the same time he didn't

"the grand library of Prospero?" he questioned his own sanity this could not be possible

"yes beautiful isn't it" the voice was behind him he spun around but there was nothing there, Mark began to feel trapped like a mouse in a cage and he ran to the grand atrium as fast as his legs could carry him. "where are you going" the voice suddenly resounded in his right ear, Mark pumped his legs harder he had to get away his lungs burning and his side aching as he finally emerged into the vast open atrium, but then he appeared in the blink of an eye"why did you run" he asked.

"why are you doing this man," Mark demanded "what did I ever do to you"

"you saw me" he smiled eerily, "I thought I explained that," the light behind him seemed to change from pure white to a more yellow hue

"what's out there"

"that's not for you yet" his smile seemed to stretch farther than natural for the human face he was wearing "you have much to learn here and until you do you cannot leave" he turned and with an open hand that he dragged through the air leaving a wake like a bubble wand in the air "you must learn your powers, master your mind and your ability to manipulate the great ocean,"

"you what"

"you have the powers and abilities of Magnus the Red" he smiled "but you must learn to control them" suddenly Mark felt an arm wrap around his shoulders the demon was holding him again, "in here you will not age a single day but you will learn," Mark felt an uneasy terror fill him as the man dragged him back into the grand library, It would be the closest he would come to the door in a thousand years.

Within the vast confines of the Library, he learned and read from the vast arcane tomes hidden within, the creature who identified himself as only John, taught him how to navigate the great ocean, how to divine its secrets and peer through it to see glimpses of the future, he learned the remunerations of the Thousand Sons and mastered the secrets of their cults, the strength of his mind was increased vastly though he would never have the immense skill of the primarch he would have just as much power, though unlike the Crimson King who had focus enough for both offensive and defensive masteries and could use in so many different ways.

Mark had mastered defensive mental powers to a point that he could withstand the power of the Cyclopse and possible even the Emperor himself if attacked, but when compared to the great skill and variety of offensive abilities of the Crimson King, his own abilities lagged somewhat behind the great sorcerer, Magnus could undermine and supplant minds from the other end of the galaxy while Mark could destroy faster but he could not manipulate as easily, it would take more time and effort for Mark to achieve what Magnus could in mere seconds.

The great library had every tome collected by the Thousand Sons and so much more, it was as if every book that was ever written had been compiled and collected here in the great library, and he read as many as he could all that he could, so that he could expand his knowledge of arcane lore, but this was not the extent of his learning, in his final decades he was tasked to craft his masterpiece, his staff, to show the extent of both his abilities and his knowledge, this was his final test he designed and crafted his force weapon with all of his arcane knowledge and power, he crafted runic arrays and alchemical seals so beautiful that any that would see them would be brought to tears with their complexity and mathematical beauty, it would be a powerful Force Rod that would expand from a one meter tall walking cane with a brass head to two and a half meters tall at a mere thought, and when it reached its full height a small double-headed eagle emblem would emerge from its head, this would be his primary weapon, and with its final completion he had shown his extensive command of the esoteric, the arcane and the alchemical arts.

"this is where I leave you, my young friend," the ever-smiling man said "I leave you this place as yours and my wish for you to live your dream" he held out his hand for Mark who clasped his the strange beings forearm, it was a sign of brotherhood and friendship that the two would share for as long as they would exist, though Mark had started their relationship on an adversarial footing going so far as Mark treating him as an enemy he had learned to embrace him as a friend.

"I will miss you, John"

"and I you," he said as he bowed at the hip deeply before he faded from existence his smile was the last thing to disappear into the ether, like the Cheshire cat, he had pushed Mark to be better he had guided him to understanding his powers and showed him the consequences of their abuse , Mark's eyes lingered a moment longer on the spot where his teacher and friend had once been for a second before he headed to the door and destiny.

he stood for a moment in front of the door working up the nerve to exit what had become his home for so long, unwilling to cast his mind through the higher remuneration to relieve his nerves as he wanted to savour the moment, and through the higher remunerations the more emotion was bled away, a true master of the arts can cast his emotions into the immaterial so completely that some bereaved them to be organic automatons.

But before he could leave he had one last thing that he had to do, he had to change the clothes he was wearing as they would be more at home in a monastery or temple and where he was going, this type of robes would stick out like a saw thumb, with a gesture of his hand the robes transformed into a casual pair of black trainers blue stonewashed denim jeans and a blood red hoody with the serpentine star of the Thousand Son's legion in an off white pale pink on the back under the hoody was a plain black t-shirt, He smiled to himself,

"That's more like it" he murmured, taking his staff and reducing it down to the size of a walking cane before he waved his hand to open the doors, they opened slowly given their size it was understandable and almost amazing that they were opening at all, but what they revealed was a beautiful orange sky slowly bleeding into a dark purple, he stepped out into an open forest that overlooked a large city and a sheer cliff face and standing tall and proudly in the bay was the Gigantic T-shaped building of the Teen Titans.

With a final steadying breath, he stepped out into his new world


	2. Chapter 2

Mark stood in silence watching the last ray of sunlight peek beneath the horizon, he had never had the time or inclination to watch a sunset before and for the first he truly regretted it, then mark felt a soft impact on the back of his head and turned to see the library doors close and a very large leather bound book floating in front of them as they finally closed with an echoing boom, nothing happened for a while then the two doors began to fold down like paper into a shall obsidian jewel that fused onto the face of the brown leather book, the edges of the book in a gothic style, it was held closed by three golden clasp locks with intricate patterns on them.

Mark held out a hand and the book shook loose large chains that looked to be made of gold, the shot forward and snaking their way up his arm where they fused togeather and the book hung from his shoulder like a gigantic messenger bag, then the book seemed to collapse into its self, shrinking as it continually folded down from a vast tome a meter long and almost two feet thick into a quarto-sized book that faded from the sight of the uninitiated and those without the sight.

He sighed then opened his hand projecting a glowing golden campus that hovered a few inches above his hand, pointing him in the best direction to get into the city, he followed the direction it showed passing through the dense forest for a few minutes only for him and walked right into someone's back garden, using his powers he floated up and over the house landing silently on the street in front of the small suburban home in a dog leg culdesac.

The aria seemed nice like the stereotypical American dream kind of place, all the houses were neat and their grass cut to the same level in every yard and Mark would not have been surprised if they measured the length of the grass to the millimetre, he was slightly unnerved and made his way out of there at a sedate pace, not wanting to draw any attention from any cameras or any passing community patrol officers, when he stopped and smacked himself on the forehead.

"magic right," he said growling in frustration "idiot," he said he shook his hand to get rid of the compass construct before he concentrated on his hand again, a ball of light erupted into life then became a dull ball that became completely translucent, only faint ripples gave away that it even existed at all, the ball then shot into the sky and towards the city, another construct projected from his staff connected to the ball and allowing Mark to view everywhere the ball went.

It took a few minutes for his spy eye to find a secluded location where he could transport without drawing attention to himself, the street he found was what must have been in the abandoned and derelict warehouse district, he made his way towards the city center or that was at least what the signs said,the streets of Jump city where surprisingly clean for a city of its size but as always there was one piece of trash that was always sewing forth, Mark walked down the brightly lit abandoned streets with only the sound of his cane casting any sound until as he passed a back alley which caused Mark to stop and look.

Shrouded in the darkness of the alley between streets where three shadowy figures, they ambled forward and into the light and revealed themselves to be three punk hoods, literal punks they wore leather jackets tight jeans that were ripped in places with tall red boots and yellow laces the only thing that would truly differentiate the three figures was the styles of hair, tattoos and piercings , the one Mark assumed was the leader had electric pink hair in a spiked Mohican, the next was shorter and had more facial jewelry in the form of a chain that connected from each ear and connected to each nostril he had no hair, the last had facial tattoos that connected up from the neck ran across the cheeks and forehead.

"looky what we got here Ron," the skinhead said to the leader

"yeah Don" he chuckled "you in ripper territory now boy" he chuckled and pulled a knife out of his pocket, this was seemingly the signal for the rest of his crew to get their weapons when they were suddenly hit with a water like ball that expanded to cover their whole body, it was as if they were being held in stasis.

Mark shook his head in disappointment, he had been expecting something more from his first experiences in this world and this was just pitiful, he walked over to their frozen bodies as the water he used to freeze them in place seemed to coat his hands, he slammed his cane into the ground where it stood a small runic array burned beneath it as it made contact with the ground, he then spent a few minutes mugging his would-be muggers of their money and leaving them there probably illegal weapons and several packets of suspect white powder in clear zip lock plastic pouches to be discovered by the authorities.

He knew that his low powered stasis spell would last until probably the mid afternoon and they would be completely safe as only he could physically hurt them in that state as it was originally used by apothecaries to best preserve their ingredients for potions as well as their preparation.

Mark counted the money around twelve hundred bucks and pocketed it before he grabbed his cane ignoring the small slowly dulling runic array that it had caused and he continued on into the town centre once again the only sound was his tapping cane, and as he came to the centre he discovered why there in a massive melee was the Teen Titans.

Marks mind flashed back to the day he was taken for a moment realising that this was what Jon had meant all those years ago, he allowed a small smile to spread on his face, as he watched the Titans engage a gigantic stone creature that Mark knew to be Cinderblock and by the way that the team were engaging it seemed as though they were newly togeather and where figuring out how their powers best complimented each other it was quite the sight, as even though they were engaged and dodging Robin was calculating, you could practically see the cogs turn in his head as he worked out a way to finish the fight.

Which he did with Raven and Starfire running interference, he had Cyborg throw Beastboy like a lawn dart, the green boy then transformed into a very large elephant hitting the stone giant in the chest barrelling the two over somehow knocking the stone giant out, though Mark suspected that the giant was merely playing possum for whatever reason he had been given Cinderblock wasn't one for complex higher thought and planning, Mark noticed Raven look his way and disguised his magical presence he had no wish to get involved with anything until he had properly set up an identity within the world


End file.
